Easy W

[OldPony]

Navy didn't have the talent to play with the Ponies. Good, easy, confidence building win though.

[Diehard Pony]

I like what I heard from Dement in his post game comments. Despite the fact that it was a relatively easy victory, his comments focused on what we did not do well. He said he was going to "start jumping their butts about not learning from their mistakes". He went on to say that he does that better than the "Mr Nice Guy" he has apparently been so far.

I like it, but I hope he doesn't go over the top.

[OldPony]

Yeah- I liked it too. It sounded as if Castro might be in for a hard week after 3 travelling calls.

[LA_Mustang]

Like you two, I was happy with what Dement said after the game, but we should have won this one by 30. Otherwise, any win the road is good.

[Corso]

A convincing win on the road (and coming off the holiday break) is never easy.
Good win, Ponies!

[Mustangs35SMU]

Great Job Ponies Now Lets beat those Cowboys!

[Waz]

We looked good in the beginning, but just as soon as it was apparent we were by far the superior team, we lost focus. Not unusual in a game like this, but it would have been a good sign to see Hopkins keep everything under a little tighter control. Getting a shot was not going to be a problem and this game would have been a good opportunity to make the extra pass to see how much better of a shot that produced. Navy is about as low as it gets on the basketball food chain and Dement taking on the no more Mr. Nice Guy approach after this one will be symbolic at best. There isn't a player on the team that didn't know by about the 15 minute mark that 'left handed shots only' would win this game. If he is ticked that fundamentals weren't executed, ie on the break and with pump fakes that resulted in travels, missed block outs, that is preseason stuff, not blow out in the middle of the year training. Wow, Devoe has let Navy's program fall into the bottom of the pit. They play Loyola of Md. next at home (0-9)and that may well be there only shot at a D I win this year. Navy's freshman center, Baldwin, is their only true division I player.

[OldPony]

Oh- I see. Good coaches don't get on their players about poor fundamentals after the preseason- especially after easy wins. What a stupid remark. You should preface all of your postings with "I don't like Dement and I don't want him to win becuase that would make me wrong".

[Waz]

OP, did we wake up on the wrong side of the bed this AM? To respond to your post, let me make a couple of points: 1. I could care less about Mike Dement. The FACT that we have achieved a level of mediocrity and have been unable to move past it does have me concerned. I would like to progress and we have not progressed for the last couple of years. Are we better than we were when Dement took over? YES YES YES and if you will recall, there was only one direction to go. Congratulations for getting us to go the right direction on a one way street!

You are either blind to all that matters in coaching or you are still looking for the two handed set shot to come back into vogue. No one said or hinted that the only time you work on fundamentals is in preseason, you work on them ALL of the time and you stress them. If fundamentals are taught and stressed and you have competent players in a program, after a time, those fundamental errors decrease. You don't keep making the same errors over and over and over and over again. Ask yourself how well we execute a fast break. Is there spacing, do we make the right decision with the basketball more often than not? No, and you know it as well as anyone else who watches us play. What happened at Navy with some fundamental mistakes is the same thing that we always do. Getting tough on this crap is a continual thing and not a short term fix. This is everyday stuff and can't be confused with a correction. Nice Guy, Bad Guy, its about teaching and this isn't about anything else. If Dement was the coach to lead us to wherever it is that everyone wants us to go, this emphasis on fundamentals wouldn't be viewed as a nice guy bad guy approach. OP, if you think that getting butts kicked after a laugher of a game is as effectual as setting the standard from day one and sticking to it, you are very sadly mistaken. I feel that this IS one of Dement's faults. Which coach is going to show up, Mr. Nice Guy or Mr. Tough Guy? Granted, that keeps the kids from getting too comfortable but it also keeps them on edge and tentative. Neither is good for a pretty young club that doesn't have a lot of success to draw on when things are tough in game situations.

Finally OP, I may disagree with some of your comments, but I respect your opinion to think them. Misguided as they may be, I don't consider them stupid.

[EastStang]

Since I was at the game and saw the action first hand, and I had a pretty long post about my observations already which I won't repeat ad nauseum, there were several things that clearly need to be addressed.

1. How to deal with the jump trap. BHop had two turnovers on this principally because only one person came out to help. Someone is open in that scenario. If I'm an opposing team, I'd try and trap him all game.

2. Rack needs to work on finding someone to block out when they are in a zone defense. Too often he allowed Navy players inside position. This is something that is a learned trait.

3. Castro needs to work keep shooting even after he has a bad miss. He went into a shell and then started walking every time after he badly missed a shot.

4. Simpson is aggressive and it got him into some foul trouble. He needs to pick his spots better.

I agree that after we got a big lead, show time erupted. Dement to his credit then started subbing in freshmen, who are clearly raw but show long-term possibilities.

[Waz]

I too was at the game and your points 1-3 address directly the types of things that I am talking about. Blocking out is a fundamental from day one. Double team and a release is a fundamental from day one. Missing a shot or two and then wondering whether Mr. Good Guy or Mr. Bad Guy is sitting on the bench today causes more mistakes.

We were not going to lose that game and it was apparent to everyone in the building 5 minutes in. Did we look good winning? No, but it is great to be 6-3.

[OldPony]

Waz- I didn't intend to be an [deleted]. I was in a bad mood when I read your comments and I get tired of Dement bashers who would rather be right than win games.
To think that Dement doesn't work on fundamentals though is just flat wrong. If we follow any team, we can find fundamental mistakes that they make over and over (even Duke, KU etc). The good coaches get them to make them less often. I look at what Dement is doing and compare it to Quin Snyder who was the media darling just last year. Snyder was one of the coaches that people on this board would have killed to get. He has tremendous talent at MU but is getting beaten or playing everyone with much less talent very closely. Poor fundamentals abound. Is MU better off than when he came? Most MU fans would give a resounding "Maybe" to that question. Does Bobby Knight have better material than SMU? Most would say so. Yet the Ponies won. Same with Purdue. We lost a couple of games we should have won. So have most of the teams in the top 25. I personally would rather have wins over Purdue and TT and losses to App St and SD than the other way around.
While Dement had only one way to go, he has built a program the right way and they are achieving more than the talent on the court would under many, many coaches (IMHO). This team is better than last year and next year will be better than this one. The following year looks pretty good too if no major injuries or defections come about.
I think Dement has finally gotten over the Sasser syndrome and pushed this program to a much higher level. SMU must have never had a good coach according to some except Doc Hayes and the cheating Dave Bliss. Were the other coaches all really that bad or does SMU just not have any basketball history or allow for a coach to build continuity. We have very little winning history and I think that continuity is extremely important. The greatest coach in the history of the college game didn't start winning until his 7th or 8th season. Almost all on this board would have fired John Wooden. Dement becomes more effective each year as he becomes further entrenched in Dallas.
Sorry for the poor attitude earlier but I think most Dement critics are those who want instant gratification and don't understand how long it takes to build a top program from nothing. Dement is doing it and doing it right. The only shortcuts are the Bliss way. I don't want that for SMU ever again.